Will Straw at the Democratic National Convention

After a triumphant opening night in which Michelle Obama gave a candid, moving and fluent speech, the baton passed on Tuesday evening to Hillary Clinton. The once presumptive nominee faced a tricky task of masking her own disappointment but avoiding any accusations of disunity. She did so in true style declaring, "I'm a proud supporter of Barack Obama."

But there are some of her supporters who continue to agitate for the Democratic National Convention to choose Clinton over Obama. They plan to use the remaining hours before Obama's acceptance speech to derail his campaign and ensure that it is Clinton, after all, who faces John McCain on November 4th.

The plan may seem incredulous but the commitment of some of her supporters is unwavering. Ricki Lieberman – a Clinton fundraiser from New York – has been coordinating an effort to contact superdelegates and urge them to vote in Denver for Clinton after all. Readers may remember that these party bigwigs broke the deadlock from the inconclusive primaries by coming out primarily in favour of Obama.

Lieberman's message is simple: "We've been trying to get people to focus on the objective of the superdelegates. Their only job is to select the electable Democrat. That person is Hillary." Her nightly email series (called "Suspending not ending" in homage to the status of the Clinton campaign) highlights allegations of voter fraud in caucus states, intimidation of Clinton supporters, articles critical of Obama, the latest polls, and the email addresses of superdelegates.

Lieberman concedes that her chances of success are slim. One killer reason is that Clinton has now urged her delegates to vote for Obama. "[Ricki Lieberman's] out of touch," said a Clinton delegate from Georgia, who spoke to me on the basis of anonymity. "Look, even if she's right, it's a moot point. Axelrod [Obama's key strategist] kicked our ass."

But a recent poll of Clinton supporters found that only 47% were solidly behind Obama. Lieberman herself is firmly in that number. "I want a Democrat in the White House as much as anybody … [but] I would not vote for Obama."

Clinton, in her role as a superdelegate, will vote for Obama. Yet despite her ringing endorsement in last night's speech, Lieberman is still not convinced. "It's a time of mixed messages," she suggests, "Senator Clinton may have a different agenda but [if they want us to stop] her team know where to find us. We've not had that conversation."